


Stranded on the beach for too long

by Lisa_Panatta



Series: Death Stranding one-shots (Sam/Higgs) [1]
Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: Forgiveness, Higgs needs a hug, M/M, One Shot, Post-Canon, Sam is a softie, Sam to the Rescue, higgs deserved way better, higgs is stranded on the beach, i was bored, implied forgiveness, wrote in a rush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28717380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisa_Panatta/pseuds/Lisa_Panatta
Summary: Higgs shrugged at the thought, at the memory.A small, almost imperceptible smirk ghosted over his lips at the thought of Sam finding out he’d been stalking him around during all his freaking deliveries.
Relationships: Sam Porter Bridges/Higgs Monaghan
Series: Death Stranding one-shots (Sam/Higgs) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121168
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Stranded on the beach for too long

**Author's Note:**

> gentle reminder to all the readers that english ain't my first language, so if you see any horrible mistakes, I apologize in advance.  
> Also, I didn't check it and don't plan on doing it anytime soon :)  
> Also 2.0, I wrote this in a rush, at school, while my teacher was giving me the creeps, so I hope it actually makes some kinda sense to y'all

Higgs was tired. Tired of the nothingness surrounding him. Tired of the light that shone on him from above, no sun on sight, and kept reminding him where he was. Tired of being used and tossed away like nothing, like his life never meant anything at all.

It was minutes, then hours. Days, weeks, months, years, no one could really quantify the time that had already gone by for him while the world kept living on borrowed time. The extinction had failed, she had wanted it to, and all he had done, all he had lost, it was all for nothing in the end. Sam had won, humanity had won, and so did life.

He sighed, his throat so hoarse that even such a small doing made him hurt. Hurt, that was all he was allowed to feel now. She had given him purpose, she had given him power, more than he could ever even dream of, and yet there she was, ready to use him, and he let her, throwing away his own life and al the connections he had made, just to follow his sweet angle of Death.

When Sam had won, time before, on her beach, Fragile had given him the chance to kill himself, although the girl couldn’t bear watching him doing it and so she had turned around and waited for the trigger to be pulled. And he did pull it, to no outcome whatsoever, because of course _she_ wouldn’t let him die. No, he had still to suffer, like daddy always told him. He wasn’t worth a damn, that much he knew. He had known for his whole life.

She was just like him, like his daddy. He should’ve seen it sooner, but really, would it have made a difference? He knows himself, he knows he still would’ve followed her, obeyed her like a diligent, lost puppy. She had given him her quipu, formed a connection, given him orders and sent him on his marry way, out there, taunting her brother to allure him into reconnecting America fast as he could.

Higgs shrugged at the thought, at the memory. The man he had spent so much time stalking around and sending BTs against; the man he had killed so many times he might’ve lost count at some point, and still, he found him quite amusing, never missing a wrong step he made, never missing one of his baths out in the open whenever he’d find a thermal source, never missed all the sweet-talks he reserved to the thing stuck in that dam pod.

He let his mind wonder, giving it freedom as to what to think about. Time was the only thing he had left. Time to mourn his own miserable life; time to curse the woman that dragged him into this whole extinction bullshit; time to curse himself for letting her; time to remember the good times- oh, never mind.

His thoughts set on something blue, while he kept his eyes shut now, trying to avoid the burning knowledge that time wasn’t a thing there, on the beach, and that he would’ve never seen the darkness again, unless he poked his eyes out of course.

He recognized that blue immediately. After all, his walls, back in in his prepper bunker, were covered in close-ups of that man’s face. A small, almost imperceptible smirk ghosted over his lips at the thought of Sam finding out he’d been stalking him around during all his freaking deliveries.

Sam Porter Bridges, America’s hero, Amelie’s brother… son… whatever their relationship was, he had never really understood. But Sam, he was something _special_ , and not just cause he had been a Bridge Baby once, or cause he had DOOMS or was a repatriate like Higgs himself. No, it was something else. Something he had seen in his eyes since the first time they had met, back in Central Knot City.

He didn’t give a fuck. That’s what had struck him at each and every one of their brief encounters. Sam “I don’t care about America I just want to save my sister” Porter Bridges didn’t give a fuck about connections. Funny, looking how he was the one turning the whole fucking country in a big net of Chiral strands.

Higgs had found it disturbing at first. How was he supposed to lead him into reconnecting America, if he didn’t even care about it? but then, he found it amusing, how _she_ pulled all the right strings in his brother’s mind as well, giving him a head start. Everything that happened, it was all her plan. Even now, closed off on her own damned beach, Higgs bet Amelie was still laughing at him, for being so helpless, so weak that the only thing that almost made him smile was the thought of his nemesis still being alive somewhere, in the living world, with his fucking BB protecting the shit outta him and keeping him safe and sound.

He sighed again, and didn’t look up when he heard a snap, like air was being sucked out into a compressor and then immediately back out. He didn’t look up, when he heard steps approaching him, because he had already had many hallucinations like this since he first got stuck on his beach.

And he didn’t even open his eyes when the steps stopped, just beside his head, and he _felt_ someone kneeling by his side, not saying a word and probably staring at his messed up appearance. Dried blood and tar still covering most of his cheeks, and still the kohl once adorning his eyes could still be seen clearly running down up to his chin. But he didn’t move. And then it hit him. His hallucinations never called him by his name.

“Higgs”

His eyes shot open so quickly his head started spinning, adjusting to the atrocious, permanent light pressing on his corneas. He had to wink a couple times, before he could finally make out the man’s appearance, not that he needed to after all. He would’ve recognized that voice _anywhere_.

A knot formed in his throat, while Sam just looked him in the eye, taking in his everything, not saying a word. Higgs felt numb, weaker than ever. He was feeling like throwing up for how hard his stomach was flipping, but it’s not like he had anything to throw up to begin with.

“S-Sam?” his voice came out so raspy, and his throat hurt like a bitch, but he didn’t budge. They just stood there, staring at each other. How could he have found him? They had no connection. Her quipu was long lost, and he had nothing to bind himself to the other man, if not just for his thoughts and _hateful_ feelings.

“Sam” his voice came out more eased this time, and he shivered. It had been so long since he last had spoken, that it made him almost scared at how it sounded. But Sam stood still for another minute, before reaching out with his hand. And Higgs thought he was going to punch him, or slap him, or anyway finish what they had left undone. So he shut hi eyes, ready to take a blow that never came. Sam’s hand froze mid-air.

“I’m taking you home”

And Higgs felt hot tears streaming down his face before he could reopen his eyes, before he could realize what the other man meant by that non-sense words that had just slipped his oh-so-kissable lips. And he couldn’t help it but wonder “why? Why would he bring me back? After everything I’ve done to him and to his word, why would he spare me this hellish eternity of nothingness?”

And then Sam hesitantly put a hand on his left shoulder, then one on the right one, and before either of them could process what was going on in their minds, the elder man pulled him in a tight hug, still not speaking a word more than necessary.

Sam started drawing slow circles on Higgs’ back with his fingers, trying to soothe him, ease his tremors and sobs, while he kept crying with his face hidden in the other’s neck, doing his best to muffle the pitiful sounds that were escaping his lips without his consent.

Neither of them knew how much it took Higgs to shed all his tears, but neither of them really cared in the end. For a split second, the ex-terrorist put aside all his questions in favor of slightly pushing Sam away and stare at him with doubt. Sam just looked down and shrugged his shoulders, and Higgs knew he had acted on instinct. Coming here, finding him and saying he was going to bring him back, it was all done on impulse. And really, aren’t those the only actions that actually matter?

Higgs couldn’t help a smile forming on his lips. Not a mocking one, not even one of the smirks he was so used to make. No, this was a pure, simple smile; one he couldn’t remember ever doing in his whole, shitty life. And the first, of course, it had to be because of Sam. _His_ Sam. Not hers.

He wiped away a tear.

“Getting a little touchy-feely over there, Mr. Aphenphosmophobia?”


End file.
